Reel Talk: ‘InTransit’ with Darien Brown

Call it luck, call it whatever you want, but Darien Brown has put himself into enough scenarios over the years to compile 40 minutes of strong skate footage from memorable skaters and possess the taste to boil it down to just the right music, pacing, and titling. It’s called InTransit—and it’s not an Internet video, you can get it on DVD. And yes, this DVD comes with stickers. And no, this DVD will not be buried with a selfie or a “throwback” image posted on a Thursday. That’s the beauty of the Digital Video Disc. –Luke Callahan

Darien Brown, coming in hot… n’ ready. PHOTO / DEREC PATRICK

InTransit features a handful of up-and-comers, but there are also some heavyweight pros and ams in here. What other projects have you worked on to help form this mix of skaters?
I’ve worked on Damn… and Parental Advisory. I was a freelance filmer for Dwindle for a little bit. I got in touch with a lot of dudes from there and just kind of got more clips to go in to that montage. That’s a very brief summary, I can hardly remember the past couple of years. They’ve been kind of a blur [laughs]. Most of those sessions I just tagged along, or I’ve been involved with a project that some of those guys were working on and decided, “Fuck it, I’ll just put in the footage that’s already used.” Just because I was proud of it. I want to say that 75 percent of that footage in there is lucky. I definitely felt lucky to be on all of those sessions.

“While I was working I would bring dudes with me in the car. I’d do a delivery and then film a trick real quick.”

Do you do any other work outside of filming skating?
I’ve been working full time doing deliveries for this attorney service in downtown LA. During that time, I was trying to film and make a living out of that, scrape up money where I can and then try to work on the video at the same time. Eventually I ended up focusing more on the video. While I was working, I would bring dudes with me in the car. I’d do a delivery and then film a trick real quick.

Doug Cool, beanplant bluntslide. PHOTO / DEREC PATRICK

You’re driving deliveries around for a law firm with a homie in the car and are filming clips in between trips?
[Laughs] It wasn’t as sketchy as it sounded. Every once in a while I would get a break in between deliveries. I would go out with Billy [Davenport] and he would get his trick in 20 minutes and then I would get a call for another delivery and then I would have to bounce from the session as soon as he landed his trick. It was kind of weird [laughs]. Most of those session didn’t work out because my schedule’s kind of fucked up. Most of the sessions are on the weekend or I’d borrow lights from somebody.

“Billy knocked off my fisheye. I had no money, no job.
I just had random freelance clips that I’d sell.
I thought I was fucked…”

It’s more and more a rarity to see videos come out with a hard copy. How far into the project did sponsors get involved in making that happen?
It started off with Richard Mulder at Heel Bruise, clothing company, he was a really big part of it. Billy knocked off my fisheye. I had no money, no job. I just had random freelance clips that I’d sell. I thought I was fucked. Billy gave Richard a call. He’s such a good dude, and he’s backing Billy and was down for getting a new front glass to the fisheye. Like, “Here, continue doing what you’re doing.” That was amazing. We kept filming, years passed, and Richard wanted to support the premiere too. And Mikendo [from Filmbot] reached out and saw a rough draft and was down to back it and have the DVDs available on the Filmbot site. From there, Billy hit up Lurkville, he was starting to get boards from them towards the end of the video. And then Billy hit up Jared [Lucas, at Bones Wheels]. Billy did a lot for me… I should have said more at the premiere [laughs].

Darien Brown. PHOTO / DEREC PATRICK

What’s next? You taking a breather? You ready to take on another project?
It’s good to take a few weeks off to feel refreshed and get back in it. I always feel lucky when someone calls me to go skate. I jump on that. But you know, I’ve got to let things fall where they may.